Every Jot and Tittle
by Hoseki-sama
Summary: A collection of One Piece short stories, drabbles, and sentence prompts.
1. The Golden Age

**Venus and Adonis: Sanji and Nami**

Nami rebuffs him one time too many, and in a fit of rage Sanji shouts what no one would have guessed him capable of even whispering.

There is a tense pause, and the rest leave the galley silently, even Luffy (this should be handled privately; and whatever he says, Sanji will never, ever hurt a woman.)

They lock eyes. Sanji is near tears from frustration; Nami is near tears from shock.

The only thing he can say to excuse himself is paraphrased poetry.

"Love hath two tongues: and never a man yet,  
Could rule them both without some ten men's wit."

**Iphigenia and Agamemnon: Ace and Garp**

A man, a pirate, the son of Gold Roger by blood and Whitebeard by bond, kneels on the execution platform and silently waits to die.

Garp the Hero may not be the one about to plunge the blade into his beloved grandson's chest, but he knows there are people at home who will not care about the distinction.

He will not stop the execution—the sacrifice. He has been told it is necessary, knows in his gut it is necessary. There is a war on, after all, and he will not be its coward.

Garp waits, and prays for a miracle.

**The Three Brothers: the Three Admirals**

Three brothers were traveling together when they came to a river, which was swift and had claimed many lives; but the youngest brother built a bridge of ice, and they crossed safely.

Death, cheated, appeared before them and offered them rewards for evading him successfully.

The eldest brother, Sakazuki, arrogantly demanded the power to burn even fire.

The middle brother, Borsalino, slyly requested the power to move as quick as a thought.

The youngest brother, Kuzan, asked for a sandwich.

The first two brothers laughed at Kuzan for his foolishness; but they met messy ends, whereas he enjoyed his sandwich.

**Odin: Luffy**

When they arrive at Raftel, there is a test; there is always a test.

The captain, alone, must climb to the highest tree of the island and hang on it, wounded and starving, presenting himself as an offering to himself, the future Pirate King.

Luffy picks his nose when Robin is done decoding the message, saying that that's silly, of course he'll bring his friends. They all ascend together and Zoro gently wounds Luffy with Wado until blood flows freely to Raftel's thirsty earth.

They wait for nine nights. Then come the last sunrise, they cut the Pirate King free.

**The Strong Man: Zoro**

When a strong man guards his ship, his crew is safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

Zoro is left alive by the attack, clinging to wreckage and bobbing in the waves.

This can't be how it goes, he thinks desperately. They had gotten stronger, they had reunited, they had sailed triumphantly into the New World with smiles on their faces and dreams in their hearts; that shouldn't have to end like this, burning in a calm sea.

Zoro, outmatched, can only weep.

Done for The Sacred and Profane's Fantastic Five prompt. These drabbles follow a strict form: six sentences each, one hundred words total.

1- "Venus and Adonis" is a long poem by Shakespeare about the goddess of love, Venus, falling in love with Adonis, a handsome mortal who rejects her advances. The quote is somewhat modified to change gender and tone while preserving meter.

2- In order to sail safely for Troy, King Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. This earned him the fury of his wife, Clytemnestra, who later killed him.

3- "The Three Brothers" is the story in _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ that describes three brothers cheating Death and earning the Deathly Hallows as a result.

4- Odin, in myth, hanged himself from the Yggdrasil for nine nights and thus gained knowledge.

5- The Parable of the Strong Man is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; the first two sentences are a modification of the version in Luke.


	2. Beginning and End

1. Dugout

In the beginning of the world, a few score people set out from the Reverse Mountain in canoes and sailed the whole of the Line long before anyone had even heard of Gol D. Roger.

2. Acoustic

Franky plays the guitar because it can be simultaneously manly and soulful—rather like the cyborg himself, in fact.

3. Criminal 

Though Robin has no real perspective, and Brook hasn't had to think about it in so many years, the difference between being wanted by the government and not is simply one of excitement.

4. Native 

Hancock, showing Luffy around a sacred grove of Amazon Lily, trips over a familiar root; she tells herself it's because everything is like new when you're in love, but it's actually because six-inch heels make for bad hiking gear.

5. Gesture 

Chopper unsuccessfully tries to flip the other pirate off five time before Robin gently reminds him that he has no fingers in Brain Point.

6. Leeward

Sheltered from the storm by the peak of a convenient underwater mountain, the Strawhats can play cards and lose all their money to Nami in peace.

7. Disaster

Shanks goes back to his crew less his good arm; they might all ask about it, but only the newest crewmen think it's anything worth crying over.

8. Poppy

Zoro manages to find the sea after a few hours of searching the port town and gently tosses his now-mangled bouquet into the waves, a silent remembrance of a girl's cold body back home.

9. Hardening

Dragon can still remember the day he looked upon the still-burning ruins of a casually destroyed city and thought, _there is no God_.

10. Obey

Since no one could ever defy the world nobles, is it any wonder they think it only natural that the world bows to them?

11. Surfeit

At first, Norland thinks the abundance of gold has blinded the Jayans to its value, but now that he's about to die for a lack of gold, he realizes it's the opposite: their proximity opens their eyes to its worthlessness.

12. Greybeard

Teach hasn't shaved in years, but when Van Augur points out the grey hair, he suddenly begins to seriously consider it.

13. Betweentimes

Robin reads; Nami maps; Sanji cooks; Franky tinkers; I think you can see what I'm getting at.

14. Rasta

The inhabitants of the latest island are certainly a friendly sort, and they introduce Chopper to the medicinal uses of their favorite of the local flora.

15. Island

Individually, every pirate and Marine and sailor discover it: when the sea is your home, you can live a life of adventure in your back yard.

16. Whirlingly

One ever-so-clever villain has the bright idea to trap the Strawhats together and let them watch each other die, but he has neglected to take into account that they fight together like a perfectly destructive windstorm.

17. Hurricane

Hancock sees one for the first time going forth into the Grand Line, and considers it the perfect metaphor for her love until she sails into its eye.

18. Learnt

Robin has just told them many, many interesting things about their next destination, but Luffy can only hear one: "The island is made of _meat_?"

19. Neophyte

Smoker, as a new recruit with a Devil's Fruit power, could quickly achieve the rank he wants; however, his grasp of the actual law is proved tenuous when he arrests a half-dozen men for 'being damn tourists.'

20. Mothering

Nami had been so excited to have another woman on board to help her keep the boys in line, but now she can only despair: Nico Robin is perfectly content to live with wild beasts, so long as they don't actually touch her books.

21. Jumped

Usopp has moved on, yes, and accepted that Merry is dead, but part of him wonders if Sunny would save them in their hour of need—and if he would trust in her if she did.

22. Windward

It is very difficult to sail into a headwind with the sails down and the paddles non-functional, but the Strawhats have the best navigator in the world.

23. Astride

There is an iconic image of Gold Roger straddling the world, legs wrapped around the Grand Line and one finger pointing ever onward; more recent variations have depicted other men in that same pose, like Whitebeard, Red-Hair Shanks, and Monkey D. Luffy.

24. Judicial

No one has bothered to ask what could drive three very different men to act as one body for so many years, and there's no deep reason behind it anyway: they were bored, started doing it, and forgot to stop.

25. Encyclopedia

The article on piracy, Robin decides, is far too short and one-sided, so she sends an improved and extended entry for the next edition to the editors along with a polite yet threatening note.

26. Tropical

As much as they will later come to appreciate Chopper's discoveries about one of the species of flower on this island, right now they can only admire Sanji's discoveries about the fruit juices.

27. Desert

People from other islands look at Alabasta and see an inert wasteland, but citizens know the sand teems with secret life.

28. Colony

Refugees with the same secrets come from all over the Grand Line and gather on the island where the content of their hearts, not chromosomes, is what counts.

29. Maroon

He wears the king's coat in his dreams, but upon waking it strikes Luffy that it would be an impractical garment in real life.

30. Banzai

Ten thousand years later, people still remember the names of the men who shaped the Age of Pirates.

The thirty sentence prompts are from penniless1.


	3. Paparazzi

"Flaming" Attachan had made his living off shots of celebrities, but in the figurative storm that swept the world upon the death of Gold Roger, his best models fell out of the public eye. Everyone cared about pirates now, not fashion-conscious nobles; Yonkou _this_ and Shichibukai _that_ and the heavens only knew what else. It was all very confusing, and Attachan was easily confused in the least tumultuous of times. So he enlisted in the Marines.

As he would later tell his friends under the influence of strong drink, it had made sense at the time.

So he reported to the nearest base, at which point they would have accepted him with open arms had he not completely failed every physical aptitude test administered to him. The base's captain kindly told him that the World Government needed loyal and good-spirited civilians, too, which Attachan could only interpret as a slap to the face. So he dedicated his very being to getting in.

His life's ambition took only a week of solid stalking and picture-taking to realize, as the captain of the base had a low tolerance for having embarrassing photos of himself taken. As a punishment, or perhaps a reward, he was assigned to that notorious sea, the Grand Line.

Attachan thrived in the photography department. His photos were always the ones that made it to the official bounty posters; he was the man who had taken the definitive shots of _this_ notorious bandit and _that_ great pirate. He quickly rose through the ranks, and his career culminated in his documentation of the destruction of Enies Lobby by the rookie Strawhat Pirates. He recreated the public face of the Demon Child Nico Robin, he unveiled the bulk of the infamous crew, he discovered Cyborg Franky.

Attachan was set for life. He sat back and relaxed, until he learned of his fatal mistake.

He had left the lens cap on for his shot of Black Leg Sanji.

No! No, no, no! A perfect career, wasted. Down the drain. Attachan resigned in disgrace, weeping bitter tears. His friends tried to tell him that one mistake wasn't all that bad, but he didn't hear them over the breaking of his heart.

The formerly "Flaming" Attachan retired to South Blue and spent the rest of his days on a single tiny island without a Marine base, another victim of the horrors of piracy.


	4. You Too?

He's awake, and it's far too late for him to be awake, and the ceiling he's been staring at hasn't gotten any more interesting over the last however many hours.

He wants to grab a cigarette, but worries the movement will wake him up more than being awake has. He wants to reposition himself, but that would make the hammock creak and oh this is absurd.

Sanji swings his legs over the edge of his hammock and slips onto the cold wood floor. Sleep is the furthest thing from his mind now, as he pads past snoring men and onto the deck, where a cool sea breeze is blowing steadily. He walks a little, stretching his legs and admiring the icy look of the Thousand Sunny in fresh starlight.

Usopp is on watch tonight, but Sanji can see even from a distance that he is asleep. On any other night, maybe, he might climb up and wake him, but tonight is different. Sanji is too wired, too alert; his every sense is screaming silently and unintelligibly at him. He digs his toes into the grass of the deck, inhales the salty air, fumbles for a cigarette and realizes he left them in the room, shit.

A sudden sound behind him, and he turns too quickly, as if expecting an attack, but it's only Zoro, dull-eyed and dressed in ratty pajamas.

"You too?" the swordsman asks tonelessly, and then shuffles past without waiting for an answer, covering a yawn with one hand.

Sanji is thunderstruck. Zoro, an insomniac? Zoro, who would probably sleep the whole day if that wouldn't interfere with his training schedule? Absurd. Sanji is tempted to fight him over this, but the wind is gone from his sails; something here has depleted him.

With barely the energy to pick up his feet, Sanji stumbles back to bed and remembers nothing the next morning.


	5. Skeletons in the Closet

Although Nami kicked him in the face oh so very hard (but he didn't have a face, SKULL JOKE) Brook knew it had been worth it for a glimpse of those elusive panties.


	6. Meltdown

_There are evil men in this world, and I can be the one to stop them. There are evil men in this world, and I can be the one to stop them. There are evil men in this world, and I can be the one to stop them. _

It was his mantra, his credo ever since his life had gone down around him in flames. Sakazuki stared at the fruit in his hands.

There were risks, of course. The unknown power might be worthless. He might be knocked into the sea and drown.

But if the power of the fruit could help him bring even _one _more villain to justice, it was worth any indignity. There was no decision to be made here, only action to be taken.

Alone on a broad, sunless beach, Sakazuki sank his teeth into the sour flesh of the Devil's Fruit and melted in a flash of light and heat.

There was an overwhelming, completely enveloping sensation of warmth, but Sakazuki found to his surprise that it was hardly uncomfortable. His awareness pooled with his physical body, allowing him to feel every grain of sand beneath him.

He was wasting time here. With effort, Sakazuki gathered his edges together and forced his molten form to flow back into its proper place. Rock became tissue once more. He brushed himself off, and held out his hand experimentally, fingers spread. Sakazuki needed only exert his will in a new direction, and burning magma would gush from his unfeeling skin in gouts.

Alone in the aftermath of one of most important events of his life, Sakazuki allowed himself a rare smile: tight, but full of a deep and genuine happiness.

After all, there were evil men in the world, and he would be the one to stop them.


	7. Aftershocks

It wasn't a thousand years ago that a certain undistinguished island sank beneath the waves, but it may as well have been for what anyone ever said of it.

The tsunami had welled up suddenly around noon, when most of the islanders were taking lunch—outside, as was customary for their people. A shadow fell over the island, and as the people stared up at their doom, the wall of raging water crashed on their heads and destroyed everything they had ever lived in an instant.

A few hundred lives were lost that day. No official record was made.

Some leagues away, a young Edward Newgate stared at the cracks he had made in the world (even then fading) and began to realize the enormity of what had just happened.

The real fallout wouldn't come until a few weeks after the event, when the island's prodigal son returned to find his childhood home transformed into a lonely sandbar. He had already lost everything on his ill-conceived journey (his body, his youth, his dream, his _hand_) and now fate or random chance had robbed him of a home and a family, too.

Crocodile stared at his world turned to nothing and wept for the last time.


	8. Tactics 15

It was unthinkable, incomprehensible, inconceivable—but the Strawhats were well and truly losing this fight.

The enemy pirates had struck suddenly, coming seemingly from nowhere and swarming the deck. Franky had been downed by a long, wicked knife to the back; someone had broken Robin's arms and left her in her silent agony; even Zoro and Sanji had finally collapsed—their opponents were too numerous, too skilled.

Their captain had taken on Luffy personally, moving at incomprehensible speeds and beating him black and blue with his bare yet haki-enhanced fists.

Usopp groaned from under a heap of rubble that used to be some part of Thousand Sunny. One of them had thrown a handful of _something_ in his face, and now tears flowed unceasingly from his unseeing eyes. "Franky..." he mumbled, not even knowing if the cyborg had fallen nearby.

"Yeah, Longnose-bro?" replied Franky weakly, pausing to cough up some blood; the knife had pierced his lung.

"Are, are we gonna die here? Franky..."

Franky almost laughed. "Hard to say, bro."

Chopper crawled through the wreckage toward them in Brain Point. "Guys," he whispered. He was maybe the best off; the attackers had merely endured his several minutes of effective attacks and beaten him down when he was unable to assume Defense Point. "Guys, they're leaving."

"Good," breathed Usopp, almost relaxing at the news. "Isn't- isn't that good, Chopper? Chopper? I can't see you, do you look happier than you sound?"

"They have Luffy," explained Chopper. "I heard them say one of their new members without a bounty was gonna turn him into the Marines. Usopp, Franky, they're gonna kill Luffy..."

Usopp flailed helplessly, unable to stand on his legs, which had turned to jelly. "No..." he wailed. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die and there's nothing we can do...!"

"That's not-" Franky paused to cough again. "That's not true. There's one thing we can do. Tactics Fifteen."

"What?" objected Usopp and Chopper in unison.

"That, that was just a joke, Franky," said Usopp. "It's not _real_."

Franky rolled from his side to his belly and weakly staggered to his feet, debris falling from the folds of his shirt. "Of course Tactics Fifteen is real," he said, reaching out his right hand to Usopp. "We did it together. That makes it real, doesn't it? Let's—go!"

Chopper staggered forward, and Franky helped guide him to the proper place on his head. Together they struggled forward and the cyborg gently lifted Usopp up, cradling the sniper in his right hand.

"Pirates Docking Six," recited Chopper.

"G-giant Robot So-soldier," responded Usopp, wrapping his legs around Franky's forearms and shaping the O with his arms even as he stuttered and wept.

"Big-" Franky began, but he tripped and started to fall forward, and he knew this would be the end of the Strawhat Pirates, stupidly dead after a failed maneuver—

But two strong sets of hands caught the cyborg and lifted him onto two broad shoulders, which by rights should have been an unstable perch but felt as solid as a well-built deck.

"Where do you think-" a much-battered Zoro growled.

"You're going without us?" finished Sanji around his cigarette. The two men stood strong, though both were soaked in their own blood.

Franky's lips curved in a pale imitation of a smile even as is heart soared. "Big-" he started again, but Chopper cut him off.

"Franky, the left arm..."

Franky stared through the ruins of his shades to his left hand, bare of attachment. "Nico-" He coughed. "Nico Robin!" A moan from just ahead; Zoro and Sanji hastened forward and knelt beside her broken form.

"Dock on my left arm," Franky urged, proffering it. "It's our only chance."

Robin didn't smile, didn't even look at them. "No," she said, voice faint but still strong. "As a human being... it's embarrassing."

"Robin!" moaned Usopp and Chopper, but Franky felt a surge of strength in his heart.

"As a human being? Well, Nico Robin, I guess you have a choice." The others stared at him.

"Die here and now a human being... or live on a _pirate!_"

Tears formed in Robin's eyes. "I want to live," she gasped. "I want to live, I want to sail on with everyone..."

"Then dock," said Franky seriously, and he oh-so-carefully scooped her into his massive hand, letting her long legs curl around his arm and her broken arms form a shaky O.

And as the six of them came together as one body they felt the haze of pain clear; they saw clearly through their doubt; and their hearts beat as one.

"BIG EMPEROR!"

The enemy never saw it coming.


End file.
